Calls for justice at Second Caledonia vigil

The community of Second Caledonia is crying out for the wheels of justice to move faster in the case of the police killing of three men two years ago.

They want the police officers involved brought to justice and the men cleared of accusations of wrongdoing.

The killings of Joel Jacob, 38, on his birthday; his childhood friend Noel Diamond, 46; and fellow villager Israel Moses Clinton, 27, sparked sporadic protests in communities across Trinidad on June 27, 2020, and two succeeding days.

Diamond’s mother, 76-year-old Priscilla Brooks said she mourns her son, who did everything for her while he was alive.

“If it wasn’t for the Lord I don’t know if I’d be standing up here today, I depend on all my neighbours to help me, to go to the grocery, to the market.

"But when my son was alive, I used to sit down home and he used to do everything for me, birthday, Easter, Christmas, everything – and people just come and assassinate him and take him away from me.

“I does have a strong spirit in me, I can’t cry so. But I have a picture; every morning I take it and pray and say, 'Lord Father, take care of my son.'

"I don’t know what happened, and I need justice for him, I need justice for my last little baby boy.”

Jacobs’ mother-in-law, Evette Williams, said she and Jacobs’ mother Carol had been left to raise his two young children.

“Joel worked hard to support his children. He was killed on his birthday and was killed 25 feet from his yard.

"He found it didn’t have enough drinks in the yard and he got a drop to come to a shop, and as he jumped in the car, police came up and killed him.

"He didn’t have anything, not even a pen – what is the reason for doing that?

"We want justice. It’s two years. Justice is too slow for poor people. If it was somebody else in Valsayn or somewhere they would have had justice already. Why is it so slow for poor people?”

Jacobs’ mother said the police service needed to make an example of the officers involved in the killing, “so that in the future we wouldn’t have this nonsense. We need the Police Complaints Authority to look into this –all those people (who) make laws, uphold laws – look into this, because it’s two years now. They hiding, they covering, they lying. Why they doing that? It’s time to do something positive.”

Jacob’s father Sterling said the community was hurting and seeking justice. He said the wheels of justice were moving too slowly as there was enough evidence to show what had happened.

“We came out to memorialise these fellows and we want justice from the powers that be. We are inviting the community of TT to come and light a candle for them every evening from now on.”

Attorney and youth officer of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen Fuad Abu Bakr said there had been two years of no justice for the families of the men.

“We’re calling on the police commissioner and the National Security Minister to at least pretend they care for their people. Imagine they’re telling us that reports of justice being on the way are fake news. That can’t be fair or justice. If the officers involved are not made an example of, the police will continue to take lives.

"We try to live within the parameters of the law but they have to abide by the law too.”

Abu Bakr was referring to a Newsday report on Sunday which the police said was fake news. The paper stood by its story on Monday.

Law student and activist Kareem Marcelle said the community was calling on the PCA, the DPP and investigating officers to make those involved answerable for their actions. He said it was instructive that a year after the PCA submitted its preliminary report, there still had been no justice.

A family member, who originally uploaded images to social media which showed the series of events which led to the shooting of the three men, said he would be uploading more footage on Tuesday which showed the aftermath of the shooting, including the writing of the original report which said the men had shot at the police.

“What we want is for Joel Jacob to be vindicated. We want the police commissioner to come out and say he is innocent and there is no evidence to show that he did anything wrong, for the sake of his children who will grow up hearing the stories.”